About Us

ABOUT US

THE IMPACT of PUNANY

“The Punany Poets Entertainment Brand was created by author and sexual health activist Jessica Holter in 1995 after the untimely death of Eric “Eazy E” Wright of AIDS. Since phenomenal public response to a documentary-styled feature of their signature poetry based cabaret performance was broadcast on HBO’s popular documentary series “Real Sex”, the urban theater company has grown in both popularity and contextual maturity with regards to contemporary sexual health concerns.

While originally designed to accompany a hip-hop flavored book and CD of erotica created to give AIDS awareness an urban voice, reminiscent of the time surrounding the death of Wright, The Punany Poets have achieved a universally accepted brand recognized worldwide by fans, scholars and critics. The years following their television debut on HBO have found them projecting through Playboy TV in Night Calls 411, and Lex in the City, and on Black Entertainment Television’s “Life Track” and “Live with Ed Gordon” on Cable television. The Punany Poets are always a favorite on radio, whether they are stimulating or educating listeners about the safer, yet fun side of the bed. But the door that has opened the widest for The Punany Poets is that of the theater. It is on stage that thousands have experienced what that had only witnessed on television.

DEMOGRAPHICS

To date The Punany Poets have enjoyed increased popularity in markets not limited to New York City, Brooklyn, Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Delaware, Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, Norfolk, VA, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta and Stone Mountain, GA, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, FL on the east coast. They are theatrical favorites in Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis in the Midwest and are rising to the top of the poetic performance and theater markets in Houston and Dallas, TX. In California, originally the home base of the troupe they play Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, San Leandro, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego regularly. Internationally they maintain celebrity in Negril, Jamaica and London and have their sights set on European and South African Tours.

The audience members who are entertained by The Punany Poets include mostly college educated working adults ages 3o to 60. They are also favored among the college crowds in Texas, New York, Virginia, Colorado and California. Their audience is primarily African American, Afro Caribbean, Hispanic American and the Africans who have made homes in Europe. The Punany Poets are also well known to open-minded non-black American audience members who recognize them from Television appearances and community service efforts. A Doctorial dissertation written about The Punany Poets by Dr. Raquel Monroe paved the way for the troupe to be considered in for higher learning discussions. In addition to the thesis which compares their work to “Theater of the Oppressed”, Punany Poetry can be found in English and sexual studies textbooks.

Within a few hours of their appearance on “HBO’s Real Sex” in March of 2000, Holter was inundated with emails reaching from as far west as Hawaii and across the Atlantic to London and South Africa. Those who missed the famed poet/activists on HBO, would catch them on “HBO Real Sex 26”, in “The Best of Real Sex” on Cinemax and in Europe and the United Kingdom on Channel 5. Two separate appearances on Playboy TV’s “Night Calls 411” with with Cuban/Dominican doll Crystal Knight and Asian sex starlet Tera Patrick and a live performance on the lap of Lexington Steele on “Lex in the City” gave Holter and her troupe crossover appeal, creating a new fan base among fans of authentic porn, who appreciated the artistry they brought to the genre. Today their professionally produced Punany sound that lays the cadence for live shows is in rotation on Playboy Radio entertaining lonely truckers on “Night Calls and “Sexy Stories”. But it was two prime time appearances on BET (Black Entertainment Television) on “Life Track” and “Live with Ed Gordon” that gave the Punany Brand the opportunity to reach into the heartland just after dinner. The Punany Poets have entertained more than 100,000 people in live theater shows since their television debut. They play for small audience of 100 to 500, entertaining with poetry, comedy, exotic dance and theatrics, saving lives, one rhyme at a time.